DSi XL release date for Australia

While gamers in Europe and the US have long known that the DSi XL was set to arrive on their shores sometime in Q1 2010, Australian gamers have been kept in the dark about when they could expect Nintendo's new larger-sized handheld. Nintendo has now amended that situation, announcing today that the XL would be on sale in Australia on April 15 this year, with pricing yet to be confirmed.

The new handheld has been on sale in Japan since November last year for 20,000 yen ($221). And while Japanese consumers had their pick of three colours for the XL, Aussies will only have two: burgundy and bronze. The handheld has experienced considerable success in its home country, selling more than 100,000 units in its first two days of sale.

The DSi XL is the fourth version of the handheld released so far, and sports 4.2 inch dual screens (compared to the DSi's 3.25 inch screens). The XL apparently can squeeze out 17 hours of game play on the lowest brightness, and comes pre-installed with several games and applications, including Clubhouse Games: Express Card Classic, A Little Bit of… Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: Arts Edition, Photo Clock, and Flipnote Studio.

Nintendo also confirmed today that the black version of the Wii will hit Australian shores on March 11. The black Wii will be bundled with a black Wii Remote and Nunchuck, and will sell for the same price as the white version (A$399.95). Black is not the only new colour for the Wii's accessories, however, with pink and blue Wii Remotes available from February 25.

And finally on the hardware front, Nintendo has also confirmed a new bundle to coincide with the release of Capcom's Monster Hunter Tri. The bundle will contain a copy of the game along with the Wii Classic Controller Pro for A$99.95. The Classic Controller Pro--which features a number of ergonomic changes over its original iteration--will not be sold separately in Australia.